streets screaming ‘monster, monster!’ Carrying torches, pitch forks, and any other sort of ominous weapon they attack the doors to destroy the creature inside.” No this was not the latest strike against Sadam, or another crazed cult attack; it is mass hysteria and it grips the world with an iron fist. This concept is not a recent new age thing either; it has been around sense the dawn of time. The madness that condemned the town of Salem still broods inside the hearts of people to this day in the form
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible displays the absolute control that the ego can have on not only the individual but on a society as well. A person may think that witch hunts are a confection of the past because as a modern society we do not fall victim so easily to ploys such as those which were created by the young girls of Salem. This however is untrue because within my short lifetime I have seen that we have been programmed to be fearful of terrorists, Ebola, and even ourselves. A great majority
“The Crucible” is a play based on the Salem witch trials in 1860. “The Crucible” is mainly composed up of mass hysteria. The hysteria in the story involves two girls are seen dancing in the forest. In the 18th century witchcraft was supposedly practiced in forests. However, the girls never confessed they were witches or that there not. All of a sudden a mass hysteria breaks out. Everyone in the Puritan village is terrified by this. Innocent people are accused and convicted of witchcraft. They were
Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion, especially among large groups of people, that has the ability to override human logic. Hysteria does not only posses the ability to tear apart relationships and societies, but it also possesses the power to break down a theocratic society, such as Salem. Puritan beliefs and ideas of theocracy surrounded Salem during the time of the trials, making their society much more susceptible to mass hysteria. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, hysteria within
and anger what shouldn’t be done at all. The witch trials never ended and are almost identical to the ones today, which are are just as horrific as they were then with terrorists and racism abounding and modern day fears as well as the original mass hysteria in tow. Witches tend to be thought of as satanic and
early 1950’s senator McCarthy came to office. Senator McCarthy and some of his allies were responsible for hysteria in the United States of America in the 1950’s. The scare was also in result of a communist scare after World War II and leading to the cold war. The behavior of the people of the Salem witch trials and Americans in the 19050’s resulted in a big scare in reaction to hysteria. McCarthy was elected senate after becoming a lawyer in his sate of Wisconsin. During the first few years
Witches and a Hen’s Egg Mass hysteria; a common term used to describe a situation in which various people suffer from an overwhelming madness (Mass Hysteria). To help further explain mass hysteria, The Crucible, Written by Arthur Miller is based off of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials was an event that took place in a small village called Salem in Massachusetts. A group of girls was caught dancing in the woods around a fire and were accused of being witches. In order to save themselves
simple story, the inner workings of the time is something prevalent even today - mass hysteria. Although it may not be obvious until years after any given event, mass hysteria too often pushes society to its melting point - people’s need for a scapegoat leads them to frantically pursue something as a group (be it supposed witches or rumors of an outbreak of disease). Within this essay, the relation of mass hysteria to the Salem Witch Trials (through The Crucible) and its modern day influence is
to the scars that remains. The rotten core that causes the discrimination of a race or the ethnicity of people is mass hysteria. A small group of people will spread their fears and hatred, then soon it will escalate into a wildfire causing mass hysteria. According to history, in the past, mass of people hunted down witches, currently, referring to “Wrongfully Suspected” today the mass of people hunt down Muslims due to the actions of one radical group. As suggested by “Still Puritans After All These
Both, people in the play The Crucible and Miller’s involvement with McCarthyism experienced mass hysteria. In societies from centuries ago, such as puritan Salem in 1692, fear ran all over the town when dozens of innocent people were accused of witchcraft causing nineteen people to be killed. When fear and rumors becomes prevalent and delusional as it had in Salem, it could be designated as mass hysteria. due to the reason that it is no longer just fear, it can be used as a contrivance for self-gaining;
Humanity has lived, and still continues to live, in a world where there is one hidden killer--mass hysteria. Mass hysteria has been known to cause quite a lot of deaths and commotion in the past centuries. Many do not believe in this peculiar phenomenon, but here are some facts about this secret killer. The three main causes of mass hysteria are fear, stress, and supernaturalism. “Millions are dead! Martians are raining down from the skies in hundreds! Hide your wives and children, this is not a
Mass hysteria Many people around the world were scared of getting sick because they were not able to identify if it was deadly or not. Outbreaks of diseases are causing mass hysteria all around the world and it’s spreading all it takes is to have one person get sick and for it to spread. When a immune system goes down and gets weak you are way more likely to catch a virus that can cause harm or even death. If you stay healthy you will have more of a chance to fight these viruses when they come around
Whenever mass hysteria is present it seems to condone damage of the truth and illogical accusations, causing the community to turn against itself. As Miller points out, people need someone to blame during times of change. Also, they feel a need for an escape to deflect blame from themselves. As a result, he perceives that the people were also able to justify their grievances in such a way that made them look respectable-blaming it on others. It seemed as if they were acting on behalf of the common
crucial part of the story, but what occurred could happen at any time in history with the same effect. Mass hysteria can break out at any time in history no matter what progress is made through time. The Puritan ideal was broken with Salem witchcraft scandal and nearly four hundred years later, the comfortable ideals of Americans were shattered again with McCarthyism in the 1950's. Mass hysteria that is left unchecked exposes the flaws in a society where citizens do not live up to the standards
The mass hysteria in Salem led to the most wild accusations imaginable towards basically anyone acting different or unfavorable toward their neighbor. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible revolves around accusations of witchcraft, which can either be forgiven by confessing or essentially accusing someone else. It all begins when Abigail and her group of cronies are first accusing of witchery and use blaming and jumping on the bandwagon to get out of the line of site and trouble. The corrupt and cruel court
gown and wig which was typical for a Judge to wear at the time. Like most of Salem, Reverend Thomas Hale tended to dress just as comfortable and casual as any of the other men. In general, the community of Salem seemed overwhelmed at first with mass hysteria as more and more people were condemned as being witches. Salem was a fairly small town, but it had a good amount of land. In greeting one another, it was customary for land owners to state their name and then tell how many acres they had. When
did happen here, no stranger would it be. If we met at midnight, in the hanging tree" (Hanging Tree Lyrics). It is incredible that these lyrics are able to help signify something that happened over four centuries ago. In the spring of 1692, the mass hysteria known as the Salem Witch Trials began. Eight girls began showing odd symptoms and acting peculiarly; they "dashed about, dove under furniture, contorted in pain, and complained of fever" (Linder par. 5). They began accusing those in their small
boys, men and women who participate are rapidly increasing, and with this too comes the rise of moral panic within societies. Individuals within the communities are becoming more and more fearful, afraid and shocked at this new form of youth culture hysteria. Although young people ‘expressing’ their sexuality has become much more open and free as of the last decade or so, the real uproar of panic is due to the risks they involving themselves in as well as the damage and harm they are inflicting on themselves
rise forever, they sold their shares which started a mass panic in which many shares were sold. The rate at which people were selling their shares was so quick that the teleprinters could not keep up, therefore share prices continued to fall making them worthless. Also causing many people to lose their jobs as the owners of factories could not afford to pay the workers wages. After the depression America was in a state mass hysteria as the Wall Street crash had caused a massive crisis among
mood of the characters. This story is not contrived, but is based on a true story. This story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the late sixteen-hundreds. The characters of the story were superstitious and gullible, which allowed for the mass hysteria taken place. The incident begins with the girls dancing in the forest, which in turn, generates a witch hunt. The conflict was sufficient enough to keep interest aroused. There were tension and suspense in the story, covering basic human instincts